Getting Twitchy... Help !

[SlyT]

Hey all,

Day 9 and still no sign of Ammonia dropping. I did a 20% water change on Sunday (first time).

Ive planted some more plants and think I shouldn't plant any more till I get fully cycled etc.

I noticed some white wriggly worms in the tank since the water change, and also when I stir up the top. The tank has gone a little cloudyier again (could be im looking for problems though) and there is almost like a residue on the top of the water.

When I was looking at the worms last night and freaking out a bit, I also spotted a tiny pin prick on the inside of the glass that I cannot shift. On closer inspection it looks like it might be the smallest of chips. It is barely noticeable, but has got me concerned.

Im praying someone on here can look at my tank set-up, tell me if it seems OK, what I might be doing wrong and generally try to cheer me up about it. I came into this with my eyes wide open, but I seem to be having some terrible luck. For example when I was planting some grasses, I knocked over my lighting and smashed a bulb and bent both of my reflectors, Im also noticing things like the lid not quite shutting entirely flush or not being an absolute perfect fit. I dont want to give up with it, nor can I afford to as Ive ploughed about £800+ in already. Not having anything constructive to do till it cycles I am just worrying and fretting I guess.

Please someone put my mind at ease, or give me stuff I can be doing to make it all better - I dont care if it wont reduce the time, I just want to be doing something constructive !

Alex

 

[LionessN3cubs]

Hey all,

Day 9 and still no sign of Ammonia dropping. I did a 20% water change on Sunday (first time).

Ive planted some more plants and think I shouldn't plant any more till I get fully cycled etc.

I noticed some white wriggly worms in the tank since the water change, and also when I stir up the top. The tank has gone a little cloudyier again (could be im looking for problems though) and there is almost like a residue on the top of the water.

When I was looking at the worms last night and freaking out a bit, I also spotted a tiny pin prick on the inside of the glass that I cannot shift. On closer inspection it looks like it might be the smallest of chips. It is barely noticeable, but has got me concerned.

Im praying someone on here can look at my tank set-up, tell me if it seems OK, what I might be doing wrong and generally try to cheer me up about it. I came into this with my eyes wide open, but I seem to be having some terrible luck. For example when I was planting some grasses, I knocked over my lighting and smashed a bulb and bent both of my reflectors, Im also noticing things like the lid not quite shutting entirely flush or not being an absolute perfect fit. I dont want to give up with it, nor can I afford to as Ive ploughed about £800+ in already. Not having anything constructive to do till it cycles I am just worrying and fretting I guess.

Please someone put my mind at ease, or give me stuff I can be doing to make it all better - I dont care if it wont reduce the time, I just want to be doing something constructive !

Alex

I doubt your doing anything wrong..should see the ammonia dropping soon. Im on about day 11 and JUST started seeing a slight ammonia drop sunday night (day 9 for me too)

 

[arobinson1984]

Nice looking tank, what size is it? 260l?

I wouldnt do any water changes at all if you are fishless cycling, you'll be lowering the ammonia levels manually and giving the filter less to deal with.

Have you looked at what fish you are planning on getting? This can be fun and can pass the time you are waiting for the cycle to complete. Research what you are interested in and make lists of possible fish combinations.

Andy

 

[SlyT]

Annoyingly I have now noticed some micro bugs, Ill have to keep an eye on them too...

I doubt your doing anything wrong..should see the ammonia dropping soon. Im on about day 11 and JUST started seeing a slight ammonia drop sunday night (day 9 for me too)

Cool, Glad yours is now on its way - hopefully Ill get there soon too!

Nice looking tank, what size is it? 260l?

I wouldnt do any water changes at all if you are fishless cycling, you'll be lowering the ammonia levels manually and giving the filter less to deal with.

Have you looked at what fish you are planning on getting? This can be fun and can pass the time you are waiting for the cycle to complete. Research what you are interested in and make lists of possible fish combinations.

Andy

Thanks Andy, Its a 300ltr bow front.

I did top up the ammonia after, however you could be right, I might refrain from water changes untill I have to.

Ive had a fairly extensive look, I built a plan on thinkfish, but I cant get all of the sorts I like from my LFSs.

My center piece will be a few angels. I will also hopefully get some Dwarf Gouramis and some dalmation mollies.

Choosing the bottom feeders / clean up crew will be a bit trickyer. As you can see I have quite a few plants already. From what Ive read, most of what I would have normally got would be out of the question. Any ideas?

 

[arobinson1984]

You'd be best looking at honey gouramis rather than the dwarf gouramis as they are notorious for dropping dead within 6 months.

Its a good size tank for angels as a centerpiece, have you looked at german blue rams? they are a nice looking fish too and really stand out, I'm not that clued on the cichlid family so you'd have to check the compatibility but I'm sure I've read people having GBR's in community tanks.

A nice group of 6-8 cory's would be good for bottom feeders, personally i like the sterbai cory's: Sterbai's or a couple of small plecs? Don't get the common plecs as even though your tank is a good size, they could still outgrow it, they can reach 18" in length.

Andy

 

[kirztie14]

tank looks great!

 

[SlyT]

Cheers guys.

Should I be worried about the chip, the wormy things, the snails or the microbugs ?

Alex

 

[Bobtastic]

I'm not sure you need to be worried about the chip, I would be more annoyed that I'd bought a brand new tank and it had a chip in it. Is it likely that you've done it? or was it like that b4 you got it?

As for the wormy/snaily/bugy things I would worry, I think the wormy things are quite common and is linked with the amount of ammonia. If you want snails in leave them alone, if you dont start fishing them out (and squishing them)! Not sure about the microbugs...

Do you have access to some mature filter media? If you can get hold of a section of sponge that you can add to your filter it will kick start the bacteria growth.

 

[SlyT]

I dont know if the chip was there before or not. Ill see what happens with it.

Some of my plants look like they may be on their way out. Could this be ammonia burn ?

I did get a sponge from Pets @ Home and put that in the filter, but this doesnt seem to have made any difference

 

[waterdrop]

Bacterial blooms (cloudiness), little white worms (planaria), little bugs, oily looking surfaces, staring a minute chinks in the glass when we're bored lol, these are all totally normal and harmless and have happened to most of us with new tanks. Fishless cycling is a bit of a mess, then you finally finish, get fish and get them settled over time, then finally at about 6 months or so one day, it'll hopefully look clear and wonderful! So hang on!

There are certainly times when you can feel the hobby is harder than it looks! Little stuff can kind of grow on you and at times the equipment starts to seem flimsy and difficult! But you just have to hang in there, keep breaking down your problems into smaller steps to approach and also be prepared to fail and try new things. Having plants in a new tank, especially a cycling tank can be quite difficult. Have you been keeping a log for yourself?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[SlyT]

Cheers waterdrop, I think you are right.

I must confess I am only keeping a mental log at the monent. Basically everything is constant each day, Ammonia dropped when I did a water change, but I topped it back up to 4ppm which is where it has stayed. pH MAY have gone down by 0.2 but I think it is a more subtle change than that. I now only check Ammonia daily, but then will then test at least one other thing just to ensure they havent been accidentally affected by something else.

As soon as Ammonia drops or nitrites appear, I will keep detailed log.

Im quite chuffed that any Nitrates that were in the tank early on have dropped right back (part due to water change but I also assume the plants too).

Reading about, I believe it is likely I should see a change any day now. Fingers crossed!!

 

[LionessN3cubs]

Cheers waterdrop, I think you are right.

I must confess I am only keeping a mental log at the monent. Basically everything is constant each day, Ammonia dropped when I did a water change, but I topped it back up to 4ppm which is where it has stayed. pH MAY have gone down by 0.2 but I think it is a more subtle change than that. I now only check Ammonia daily, but then will then test at least one other thing just to ensure they havent been accidentally affected by something else.

As soon as Ammonia drops or nitrites appear, I will keep detailed log.

Im quite chuffed that any Nitrates that were in the tank early on have dropped right back (part due to water change but I also assume the plants too).

Reading about, I believe it is likely I should see a change any day now. Fingers crossed!!

Oh don't be upset about the nitrates disappearing..thats a good thing. They're the END product and dont mean anything to your cycle except that...your cycle is going from ammonia to nitrites to nitrates like its supposed to.

 

[SlyT]

woo hoo !

ive got nitrites !

Amonia doesnt look like it has dropped much the slightest shade of green maybe ?

Nitrites = 1ppm

 

[LionessN3cubs]

woo hoo !

ive got nitrites !

Amonia doesnt look like it has dropped much the slightest shade of green maybe ?

Nitrites = 1ppm

isnt it weird the way that 2 cycles can progress totally different? As of this morning my ammonia was 0...but so are my nitrites LOL. You have nitrites, but ammonia hasn't dropped much. Its interesting when there are a couple people on basically the same cycle day so we can keep up with each other.

 

[LucaBrasi]

really nice looking tank!!

i will soon be going through the same process you are so yeah hang in there!

your fish will be so happy once your all done, to have that nice tank to swim around in

im pretty jealous lol

good job and goob luck!